Why Windows 7 looks so much like Vista

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Why Windows 7 looks so much like Vista

by Brad Linder Feb 6th 2008

Last month we posted a video and screenshots of what may or may not be Windows 7, the next version of Microsoft's flagship operating system. The company hasn't confirmed or denied the authenticity of these images, but many readers have been a bit... vocal about their doubts. That's not surprising, since right now, the screenshots look an awful lot like Windows Vista.

But JayDog at TG Daily says there's a good reason for that: most of the changes are at the kernel level. He says Windows 7 Milestone 1 actually installs on top of Windows Vista SP1. You can't install the OS on a clean system. Once you install Windows 7, you will automatically have a dual boot system with the option of booting into either Vista or Windows 7.

JayDog reports that his system seems a bit faster when running Windows 7 than Vista, but as a user he really didn't notice any other differences. Of course, Windows 7 M1 isn't really intended for end users. It's for computer makers, developers, and other Microsoft partners who need to see how the new code affects their products. So while there may actually be leaked copies of Windows 7 floating around, we can semi-definitively say there's no real reason you should try to track down an installation disc. Not yet anyway.

[via Engadget]

Tags: vista, windows-7, windows-vista

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mysterius said 5:05PM on 2-06-2008

Or maybe Microsoft isn't ready to give testers a look at an updated interface yet?

It needn't be radically different, but I doubt Microsoft will release Windows 7 with a virtually identical look to Vista; for marketing reasons, if nothing else.

ViviD said 5:12PM on 2-06-2008

Milestone releases have always used interface from previous windows version!

Brandon Paddock said 7:07AM on 2-07-2008

You forgot to mention that JayDog is full of crap...

Mark said 7:07AM on 2-07-2008

With Vista being such a failure, Microsoft are gently trying to hype people into the version after, probably hoping that they'll hang on with XP and go to Windows 7 rather than to Apple or Linux in the meantime.

John Pastor said 10:29PM on 2-08-2008

I remember when Longhorn looked like XP.

Andrew Edwards said 2:36PM on 4-01-2008

Dose any one have or know a site/link to a copy of Windows 7 that is not fake.

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